


Always

by EmpressCactuar



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Smoking, not sure if they always knew Bertholdt was dead but I'm assuming so here, past Reiner/Bertholdt - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22047469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressCactuar/pseuds/EmpressCactuar
Summary: Oneshot request for anonymous“All the way to the end, right?”“No. Not until the end. Always. Forever.”
Relationships: Porco Galliard/Pieck, Reiner Braun & Porco Galliard
Comments: 7
Kudos: 36





	Always

**Author's Note:**

> _for a oneshot can u do a canonverse pokkopikku abt them figuring out their feelings for each other? late night cuddles would be most appreciated_
> 
> Thanks for the request! I absolutely love Porco and Pieck. <3  
> (I don't normally think Pieck is her last name but I played with the idea a little here)

To say that Bertholdt had become a taboo topic would be a major understatement. It was to the point that Pieck and Galliard made absolutely sure never to mention him in Reiner’s presence unless absolutely, positively necessary. 

The idealist Reiner that had gone to Paradis and had a wish to save the world died along the way. Now he was a man aged far beyond his years and deeply traumatized by… _something._ They could all speculate, and Pieck and Zeke had bore witness to the disaster in, what was that place called? Shinganshina? But Reiner’s mental issues went well beyond that. They had to. Otherwise Pieck and Zeke would be completely broken too, but they weren’t. 

They managed to get him to open up on two nights. Galliard had wanted to go to the bar to spend some one-on-one time with Pieck, but she was worried about Reiner and had amazingly convinced him to go out and get drunk to loosen him up. The first time they went and got drunk, Reiner had happily chattered on and on about Bertholdt in a way they hadn’t heard since. 

How much he loved him, how Bertholdt always dipped his bread in his soup, Bertholdt grew up into such a breathtakingly handsome man, they were in love, wanted to get married. He got completely smashed and started talking about how big Bertholdt’s… 

Ugh. Galliard didn’t like remembering those details but Pieck had seemed interested in knowing every salacious detail of Reiner’s past sex life. 

After that night, they had tried taking him out to cheer him up on another occasion. Big mistake. 

Reiner’s heart was clearly shattered. They scraped him up and took him away from the bar, but he wouldn’t stop sobbing about how much he missed Bertholdt and how everything was his fault and how bad he just wanted his term to end so he could vanish and be forgotten. 

But one thing Reiner had said truly stuck with Galliard. 

That night, Reiner had hiccupped, and choked out a sob. “We g-got our titans… at the s-same time… I wasn’t ever supposed to outlive him! We, we, we were supposed to live o-our whole lives together…” 

They had all inherited at the same time. Reiner, Bertholdt, Marcel and Annie’s lives would all end within a week of one another. 

And Pieck too. 

But he inherited seven years after they did when that pitiful woman was brought back from Paradis. She’d taken away his brother and the power of jaws. Marley recovered it. But where Reiner and Pieck had three years left, he had ten. 

“Pock,” Galliard snapped out of his thoughts. He was leaning over the balcony, watching the warrior cadets training below. Four cadets, two titans to inherit. The cart and the armor. 

Reiner glanced over at the two, taking a drag off his cigarette. He had dark bags under his eyes but turned back to the cadets, paying them no mind. 

“How many times have I told you not to call me that?” Galliard asked, pulling his own pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket. He reached his hand down and rolled his eyes when his match box was empty. Galliard walked over to Reiner. “Got a light?” 

“Mhmm.” Reiner gave Galliard his matchbox, taking it back when he was finished. Reiner didn’t seem interested at all in whatever Pieck had to say, instead focusing on his cigarette and on his little cousin. 

“Sorry. Unless you’d rather me call you my piggy.” Pieck smiled at Galliard’s flushed cheeks, him stuttering and shoving his hands down in his pockets. Pock, or piggy? 

“…Pock is better…” He took a long drag off his cigarette and leaned over the balcony, Pieck joining him. “What’s on your mind?” 

“They’re deploying the four of us again soon. We’ll be taking the warrior cadets on this tour of duty.” Galliard’s eyebrows rose at that, Pieck taking out a cigarette and using the end of Galliard’s to light it. 

“Really? They never sent us out on the battlefield when we were cadets.” 

“Well, we weren’t at war then, either,” Pieck’s hair blew in the wind when a gust suddenly passed through. It was shiny, the sun reflecting off it and drawing Galliard’s eye. Galliard scoffed at that thought. 

“And whose fault is that?” He thought out loud. 

“Honestly, pretty much everyone _except_ you. Zeke’s, Reiner’s, Annie’s, Bertholdt’s,” Reiner turned his head slowly towards them at Bertholdt’s name, blinking and sporting an expression of mild distress before turning back to what he was doing. “Even mine. Our failure was catastrophic in nature.” 

“How could it have been your fault, Pieck?” 

“You weren’t there, Pock, you don’t understand what it was like.” Galliard frowned. He wasn’t there. Because he had literally just inherited his titan and lacked the capacity to control it like they needed. “I can only imagine losing someone I loved on the battlefield like that…” 

Galliard watched Reiner pull out another cigarette and light it with the one still in his mouth. Ah, he was chainsmoking now. When Reiner leaned to the side, Galliard noticed the unmistakable outline of a flask in his pocket. 

Great. 

  


“He’s spiraling,” Pieck said, sitting across from Galliard at the table. Her dad was at the hospital again, so she was alone at her house. At least Galliard was here with her to keep her company. She put the plate of food she had prepared in front of him, then another on the table for herself. “I’m worried about Reiner.” 

“He does pretty good if we keep Bertholdt out of our mouths,” Galliard bit into the chicken that Pieck had made. “Just don’t talk about him.” 

“It isn’t healthy, though. He was our friend. He was the love of Reiner’s life. Just erasing him like that doesn’t seem right…” Pieck picked at the asparagus on her plate. 

“I don’t like the way Reiner is either. But it is what it is.” Galliard took another bite of the food. Fresh produce became hard to come by for Eldians during certain parts of the year, but the warriors, honorary Marleyans, could procure more premium produce from the markets outside the internment zone. 

“Hmm. I see. Anyways, Magath said that we’re going to be deploying for a two-month tour soon. I’ll probably be inside my titan the entire time,” Pieck sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I always hated staying inside my titan for that long. I can’t take showers or change my clothes, and I always want to eat but the military isn’t going to waste money feeding a titan.” 

“Can you not ask them for food?” Pieck shook her head at Galliard. 

“It wouldn’t matter. You know how when you lose a titan limb your real one doesn’t hurt?” A nod. “If I eat I don’t taste the food, and my titan draws energy for me from the sunlight so there’s no sense in feeding it anyways.” 

“Is there anything I can do to make it any easier?” Galliard finished up the chicken, taking a drink of his water to wash it down. Pieck smiled at Galliard. 

“Always looking out for me. I appreciate it, Pock,” Pieck finished her food and stacked her plate on top of Galliard’s. “If you wouldn’t mind… come chat with me a little bit. It gets so lonely. Nobody wants to sit there and talk to a titan. Especially one that looks like mine.” 

“Like your titan is any uglier than the rest of them. Truthfully Reiner’s is the only one that looks decent and it’s probably because those plates cover up how ugly he probably is underneath.” It was true. They _all_ looked bad as titans. 

“Hehe. I guess you’re right. Let’s go stand on the balcony and have a smoke, Pock.” Galliard followed behind Pieck and lit himself a cigarette, her lighting her own with his. They watched the movement of Eldians below, night falling and businesses starting to close. All the warriors lived in the admittedly nicer part of the internment zone. 

“I’m going to miss you,” Galliard started, looking down at Pieck. “After we deploy I won’t see you for two months…” 

“I’ll be there the whole time.” Pieck countered, Galliard shaking his head in response. 

“Yeah. But not like this. We can’t share cigarettes and eat dinner and talk by ourselves. Your titan… it isn’t very quiet.” Pieck laughed at that, tapping her cigarette and watching the ashes blow away in the wind. 

“I know. Maybe you don’t need to chat with me. Just spending time with me is fine,” A silence fell between the two as they smoked their cigarettes together. “I’m going to miss this too.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. I love you coming over and spending time with me,” Pieck took a last drag off her cigarette and extinguished it, flicking it into the flower pot she kept outside for her cigarette butts. “I love spending time with you.” 

“I… love spending time with you too.” Pieck smiled and looked at Pieck, him flustered. He grit his teeth and balled his fist. “Can I talk to you about something serious? …Since you’re going to be in your titan for a while and we won’t be alone like this?” 

“Of course, let’s go back inside,” Pieck and Galliard went inside, sitting on the loveseat in the living area. “What’s on your mind, Pock?” 

“It’s about why I hate Reiner always moping around…” Porco ran a hand through his hair, crossing his arms after the fact. “I’m going to be just like him. I know it.” 

“What makes you say that? I mean, god willing we won’t be subjected to a catastrophe like that horrible battle where we lost Bertholdt again…” Pieck bit her cheek. She missed Bertholdt. She wished she could’ve done more and stopped his demise. She wanted Reiner and Bertholdt happy by her side like when they were kids. Now they were down a warrior and Reiner was just a shell of the person he used to be. 

“I have ten years left to live. You have three. I…” Galliard ran his hand down his face. “Every deployment where we’re gone is months I don’t get to see you like this. And those months feel so… few. You’ll be gone before I know it.” 

“Galliard…” 

“I love you, Pieck. Every day I realize it more, and every day I get closer to the day I have to say goodbye,” Porco shook his head, his hands resting between his knees. “I’m going to be just fucking like Reiner, I know it. He’s so busted up about Bertholdt and I know if I switched places with him I’d be the same fucking way if not worse.” 

“Porco,” Galliard’s head whipped to the side at the sound of his first name. They never used their first names. Pieck just… never did for some reason. And he didn’t like the pig jokes that came from his name. “I love you too. I admire your passion and dedication. You have a good heart. I love spending time with you.” 

“Olivia…” Pieck smiled at her first name. The warrior cadets thought Pieck was her first name, it was used to much and so casually. Porco leaned forward and pressed his lips to Pieck’s, putting his hands on her shoulders. She put her hands on his shoulder, then leaned her forehead against his when they parted. “I would do anything for you.” 

“Stay with me?” Pieck asked, leaning her head into his shoulder. He pulled her into an embrace and held her. 

“Of course. …Can I stay the night?” Pieck blinked against Porco’s chest. 

“It’s a little soon to be having sex, Porco…” Pieck said against his chest, her tone suggesting she wasn’t upset at the perceived request. Porco started sputtering at that, his face red. 

“N-no, that isn’t what I’m asking, I just wanted to stay the night. I don’t want to have sex with you…” Porco bit his lip. Oh, god, that could mean he doesn’t find her attractive enough to sleep with. “B-but not because you’re ugly, I’d love to have sex with you later… Wait, I mean…” 

Pieck laughed, Porco’s face redder than their armbands. He stopped at the laugh, his expression nervous. Porco never was the smoothest guy around, as much as he’d like to believe he was. 

“You can stay the night with me, Pock,” Pieck leaned back into him. “We can stop by your home on the way to the training grounds in the morning and get you a new outfit.” 

“That’s fine.” The two of them sat and chattered about the current state of the war and what it looked like was going to happen. This newest deployment hoped to see the capture of Fort Drasna. After that, the capture of Fort Slava would end the war for good. Hopefully within the year. 

Porco hoped so. He wanted peace for her last two, three years. He wanted to spend time with her, without her being forced to hole up inside her titan. 

Pieck stripped down to her underwear, putting on pajamas to sleep in. Porco swallowed at her apparent level of comfort, him catching glimpses of her body and her not seeming to mind at all or ever thinking to cover up. 

“I don’t have any pajamas that I think will fit you… unless you want to try my dad’s clothes. Or you could sleep in your underwear.” 

The thought of sleeping in Pieck’s dad’s clothes bothered Porco much more than he’d like to admit. Instead he stripped down to his underwear, crawling into Pieck’s bed with her. Moonlight came in through the window, Porco moving to hold her against his chest. Pieck nuzzled him in response, his hands playing with her hair behind her back. 

“Olivia… I’ll stay with you. And I’ll love you. I promise.” Porco ran his fingers through her soft hair, closing his eyes. Her pajamas were made of a silky material, pleasant against his skin. 

“All the way to the end, right?” Pieck mumbled. She wanted more. More than three years, to the end of her term. More than ten years, to the end of his. She wanted decades, but the world was a cruel place and it was more than she could ever really hope for. At this point all she could desperately wish for was as much time together as they could get. Not have their time together cut short like Bertholdt and Reiner. 

“No. Not until the end. Always. Forever.” Porco ran a thumb back and forth on her cheek, under her eye. He leaned forward and kissed her, pressing his forehead to hers. 

“Right… always.” Pieck adjusted so she was comfortable, Porco’s warmth helping to lull her to sleep. 

  


Porco leaned against Pieck’s titan, running his hands along her short hair. It had been a month and a half since she sealed herself up inside her titan. But they would be storming Fort Drasna so very shortly. Reiner and Zeke were going to be air dropped in, dropping mindless titans into the battlefield from above. But he and Pieck would be coming in with the ground troops. They were probably already strapped into their parachutes. 

The cadets were profoundly affected by witnessing all the horrors of war firsthand. Especially that smart boy. Udo. He had the mental capability to be a warrior, smart like his Pieck. But he lacked courage. 

“Almost done, Pieck,” Porco said softly, Pieck closing her titan’s eyes while Porco leaned down and ran his hands in her hair. He straddled her neck, her body warm and comforting. “When we get back to Marley I’m going to get you something nice to eat and a bundle of flowers.” 

“YOU DON’T NEED TO DO ALL THAT.” Pieck responded. Porco shook his head and kept running his hands through her hair. 

“I don’t need to. I want to,” Porco swallowed, hopping off Pieck’s neck and running his hand along her face. “Pieck. Please… stay safe out there. Once we have Fort Drasna, we’ll be headed back home. I’m so excited to see you again. If you get a free second before I see you again, think about what you want for dinner.” 

Fort Drasna wasn’t nearly as fortified as Fort Slava was. The Mid-Eastern Allied Forces didn’t have naval support here in this landlocked fort, a major advantage on Marley’s part. Taking Fort Drasna would be a piece of cake. Still, Porco couldn’t help but worry about Pieck. He wanted her to stay safe, so badly. Just the thought of her getting hurt made a pit in his stomach. She didn’t regenerate as well as he and Reiner and Zeke did. 

He always felt this way. Now love had a name, though. 

Porco raced through the battlefield, easily taking out the railways inside the fort and deftly dodging explosives lobbed at him. He made sure to stay close enough to defend the warrior cadets, though enemy forces weren’t being given an open to hurt them. Pieck had come in, the Panzer unit working well to gun down enemy soldiers. 

Now came the dangerous part. Porco glanced up at the sky, seeing the ship fly overhead and numerous bodies lighting up in the sky. Two more floated down on parachutes. The bodies all lit up and glowed, massive bodies falling into the ground. 

Most of the titans died on impact, as per usual. They fell so far down it was expected. Several of them got up, moving to gobble up enemy soldiers. 

How awful. Porco shuddered inside his titan at the mindless titans. Did they have anything to do with Reiner’s changed demeanor? Two more cracks of lightning, the armored and the beast landing on the battlefield. 

It was over as soon as the two of them landed, both of them laying waste to the fort in a way he and Pieck couldn’t in their smaller bodies. All he cared about, though, was keeping Pieck and the cadets safe, the mindless titans turning their attention to Marleyan soldiers once the enemy soldiers were thinned out. 

He quickly jumped from titan to titan, biting into their napes and killing them before they had a chance to hurt the cadets. He failed to save all Marleyan soldiers… but he had to prioritize. Pieck, the warrior. The warrior cadets, future warriors. The soldiers, easily replaceable. 

Eventually the dust settled, the armored titan letting out a roar to signal that Reiner had been unable to locate any remaining hostile troops. A similar roar came from Zeke. Porco laughed inside his titan. It was over. He couldn’t help but run to Pieck, still in titan form, and put his large arms around her neck. 

  


“What was that out on the battlefield?” Reiner asked, tapping the ashes of his cigarette into the ashtray. They sat in a train, en route back to Liberio. Pieck was sound asleep, exhausted from finally being released from her titan. 

“What?” Galliard asked, taking a drink from his wine. 

“You threw your arms around the cart titan.” Reiner closed his eyes when he inhaled deeply. His second cigarette this round of smoking. 

“Mind your business, Braun,” Galliard replied, crossing his arms. Reiner cocked an eyebrow at Galliard. “It doesn’t concern you.” 

“You care about her. Olivia.” Galliard’s face burned at Reiner’s words, his turning away quickly inadvertently confirming Reiner’s suspicions to him. 

“I said mind your business, Braun.” Reiner raised his hands defensively before he took another puff off his cigarette, pulling the flask out of his pocket and taking a drink. 

“Fine. Just, one thing,” Reiner looked seriously at Galliard, his gaze almost unnerving. “Cherish her, Galliard. Hold her tight and love the time you have with her. I’m happy for you.” 

“…Reiner,” Galliard started, staring out the window of the train car. Night had long fallen at this point, the stars glittering in the sky. Reiner glanced back over at Galliard, raising his brows. 

“Yes, Porco?” Reiner replied, using Porco’s first name when Porco used his. 

“Can I ask you something… about Bertholdt?” Reiner took a deep breath, the smoke coming out his nostrils when he exhaled. The burn was relaxing, a far cry from when he started the first week he was back in Marley and couldn’t stop coughing. 

“What about Bertholdt?” 

“How… do you live without him?” Porco turned to look at Reiner seriously. “You know I have ten years left and she has three, same as you. When Bertholdt died, you still had six years left. How… how do you stand it?” 

The sense of distress was evident when Porco spoke. Reiner sighed and extinguished his cigarette. 

“Besides being a chainsmoker and bordering on alcoholism? Heh… I’ve cut down on my drinking a lot. Mom’s been worried about me. I still need my cigarettes…” Reiner leaned back into his chair, running his hand through his hair. “I cherish the time I had with him. Not a day goes by I don’t think about Bertholdt. Every night I go to sleep I think about him. The nights I dream about him are the best…” 

“Do you want to love again?” Porco asked, Reiner shaking his head. 

“No. I got to experience real love and I’m happy he loved me back. I only have three years. I just want to love Gabi and the other cadets in the time I have left. Sometimes I wish I could just curl up and die…” Porco looked distressed and worried at that, Reiner shaking his head. “Sorry. There’s… a lot more to it than just Bertholdt’s passing. If that were it I’d be much better off.” 

“I don’t want to say goodbye to her.” Reiner’s eyes darkened. 

“Porco. I’ll only tell you this once. I don’t want to think about it too much… even if you had matching terms you can’t guarantee you’ll outlive her. There’s a very real possibility you’ll die first in battle. Possibly before her term ends. Accept that reality. Cross the bridge of her death when you get there.” 

Porco sighed. “I know. Reiner… I’m sorry about Bertholdt.” Reiner nodded, taking another sip from his flask, then shaking it by his ear. 

“Don’t worry about me. Hand me that wine bottle.” Reiner took the bottle and started pouring it into his flask. Porco frowned at that, more out of confusion. He had assumed it was liquor Reiner had been drinking but now he couldn’t even be sure. 

  


Pieck cracked open her eyes, finally seeing out her own eyes and not the eyes of her titan. She had affectionately named her titan Belle, the name she’d given her future pony she dreamed of as a child. Everything seemed so low now that she wasn’t seeing through Belle’s eyes anymore. 

“Hey, love. You’re up,” Porco sat in the chair by the bed, a sandwich on the plate next to him. Her crutches were propped up on the wall, Pieck groaning when she saw them. She hated having to relearn how to walk on two legs every time she went on a deployment. Walking with those damned things wore her out, and she didn’t even have much energy to walk as it was. “It’s so good to see you again. Well, like this. In your body.” 

“Good to see you too, piggy,” Pieck sat up in bed, wiping at her face. She was in a simple white nightgown. They must’ve changed her out of her military uniform whenever she came out of Belle; it _had_ been baking inside a titan for almost two months. It probably radiated a fetid odor by the time she came out. “Who cleaned me?” 

“Hmm? Gabi and Zofia did. I wanted to, wanted to help you out. But they wanted girls to clean you. You know. You being a woman and all,” Pieck smiled at Porco. So considerate and willing to help her. He smiled back at her, running a hand back and forth on her leg. “We should be back to Liberio sometime tomorrow afternoon.” 

“What time is it now?” Pieck asked, closing her eyes when Porco leaned forward to kiss her cheek. 

“It’s late. The others are awake but they’ve retired to their rooms. Reiner said he was going to get drunk and pass out, and to leave him alone. Zeke’s been preoccupied with something. And all the cadets are in their room, they’ve got curfew.” 

“I hope Reiner’s okay…” Pieck said, Porco biting his cheek. 

“He’ll be fine. He’s doing better than when we left at least. He talked a little bit about Bertholdt.” There was loud snoring coming out of Reiner’s cab when he walked by earlier. Porco pressed another kiss to her cheek, then one to her lips. “I’m so glad to see you again.” 

“I love you, Pock.” She put her hand on his cheek, kissing him again. 

“I love you, Olivia,” Porco ran his hands through her hair. “Can I spend the night with you?” 

“Of course you can. I’ve missed you holding me, Pock…” Porco nodded and stood up. “Need something?” 

“I’m just going to get a change of clothes for tomorrow from my cab. I’ll be back in just a sec.” Porco walked out the door, Pieck stretching out her arms and yawning. She just woke up but she wouldn’t be able to stay up for long. Being in her titan that long did a number on her body. Porco walked back into the room and dressed himself down, putting his folded and clean uniform on the desk by Pieck’s bed. He dropped his pants and peeled off his uniform, leaving himself in his boxers and white tank top. 

Porco pulled back the covers and slid in beside Pieck, her moving to rest her head on his chest. He moved to hold her, running his fingers gently through her hair. Pieck smiled and nuzzled him. 

“Do you know what you want to get to eat tomorrow? I don’t know if you’d had a chance to think since I asked.” Pieck hummed against Porco’s chest. 

“Some seafood sounds good. We can go and sit by the coastline after we finish. It might be a little hard on me but I want to spend time with you.” 

“I can carry you. Don’t wear yourself out. I’ll take care of you.” Porco kissed the top of Pieck’s head. 

“Hmm. You don’t have to do all that, piggy.” Porco wanted to frown at the nickname but he hadn’t heard her voice in so long. He’d be fine sitting there and listening to her read reports at this point. Her titan’s voice was so low and not _Pieck_ that he didn’t even think of it as her voice. 

“I don’t have to. I want to. I like taking care of you, Olivia.” 

“Porco,” Pieck leaned up and kissed Porco again. “Let’s make love.” 

“Uh, uh…” Porco started to stammer, Pieck pushing a finger to his lips. 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to.” Porco pulled Pieck up and pressed a kiss to her lips, holding her head in his hand and hugging her close when words failed him. 

Porco really, really wasn’t the smoothest guy around. But that didn’t matter. Because he wouldn’t just be there for her until the end. He’d _always_ be there. 

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was my first attempt at really writing pokkupikku. They'd made some appearances in other stuff of mine but this is the first time I've written them completely as the focus. To the requester, I hope this is along the lines of what you wanted! :)
> 
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> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/empresscactuar?t=1574244005)  
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